Canadian diplomat Roxanne Dubé says teen son innocent in Florida murder

Roxanne Dubé, Canada's top diplomat in Florida and the mother of a teenager charged with felony murder, calls her son a "confused child" but says he is innocent of the crime in her first media interview since the incident.

Dubé's 15-year-old son, Marc Wabafiyebazu, is charged with felony murder after a 2015 drug deal in Florida went wrong, leaving his 17-year-old brother, Jean, and a 17-year-old drug dealer named Joshua Wright dead.

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"Marc is such a good kid," Dubé says of her younger son, in an exclusive interview with the fifth estate. "I think if he wanted to be bad, he wouldn't know how."

She recalls how after Marc had been taken into custody, he told her, "I don't know if I can live… without Jean."

On March 30, 2015, Jean Wabafiyebazu and Joshua Wright were killed in a shootout at an apartment complex in Miami.

Prosecutors and Miami Police say that Jean Wabafiyebazu went to the apartment with the intent of robbing the dealer of the two pounds of marijuana he had agreed to purchase, which had a street value of around $3,700 US.

Details of exactly what happened inside the apartment are unclear, but police interviews obtained by the fifth estate reveal that an argument broke out and guns were drawn. Jean Wabafiyebazu and Joshua Wright shot each other, and were mortally wounded.

"It is so gut-wrenching for me. It was my baby," Dubé says of losing her older son. "Under different circumstances, he would have been a wonderful young man."

Florida's felony murder rule

Under the felony murder rule, Marc Wabafiyebazu is charged with the deaths of his brother and Wright, even though police, defence lawyers and the prosecution say he didn't shoot anyone.

Florida's felony murder rule states that if someone is killed in the commission of certain felonies, including murder, rape and armed robbery, each individual present during the commission of the crime can be charged with felony murder.

Defence attorney Curt Obront maintains Marc's actions simply do not meet the legal definition of the crime.

"If the person is not a participant in the underlying criminal conduct, then they are not guilty of felony murder," Obront says.

The state prosecution for the case is arguing that Marc Wabafiyebazu was a lookout or getaway driver and went to the crime scene with knowledge of what his brother planned to do.

Obront counters that under the felony murder rule, that's not enough to convict someone.

"Being there and even with knowledge that a crime is being committed isn't enough," he says. "You have to be a participant."

The surveillance video from the parking lot shows Marc did not immediately follow his brother into the apartment, staying in the passenger seat for several minutes. Crime scene photos obtained by the fifth estate show that Jean left his cell phone in the car with Marc, giving him no way of getting in contact with his brother once Jean entered the apartment.

Dubé says the video makes it clear to her that Marc had no idea what was happening inside the apartment and was simply a "confused child."

"He was not a lookout, I can tell you that," Dubé says. "[When] he heard the gunshot, he didn't know what was happening, he didn't know what to do…. why [he] would have the guts after he heard the gunshots to walk into that apartment unarmed — I know he did it because he was so concerned about Jean."

the fifth estate has learned of a potential plea deal for Marc Wabafiyebazu, which includes time at a Miami prison boot camp as an alternative to prison time for youths tried as adults.

A hearing this week found him to be a suitable candidate for boot camp after he passed a physical and psychological assessment.

If a plea deal isn't reached, Marc could face a life sentence in a Florida jail. He is currently awaiting trial at Miami's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

A status update on the case happens on Dec. 12.

Here are some key details of the case.

Prosecution's case

The prosecution's case against Marc hinges on an allegedly spontaneous statement he gave to a transport officer almost 10 hours after being brought to Miami-Dade police headquarters.

Juan Velez, a rookie Miami-Dade police officer, was assigned to transport Marc from police headquarters to the Juvenile Assessment Center, just 350 metres down the street, to be processed.

Velez alleges that Marc blurted out 23 facts to him about the drug robbery, including that he was the getaway driver and that he and Jean had done drug robberies like this before.

Defence case

According to defence attorney Curt Obront in his motion for pre-trial release, Marc's "spontaneously offering 23 pieces of information" in less than two minutes is "suspicious and implausible… even if the alleged statements were made and validly obtained by [Miami Police Department]."

Obront argues that the statement is inadmissible because he was not read his Miranda rights and his mother was not contacted.

"[Marc was] handcuffed to a chair in a Miami Police Department homicide interrogation room where he remained for at least seven hours," Obront said in his motion for pre-trial release.

Obront also says the police department "failed to follow its own policy on recording interactions with homicide suspects," adding that "there isn't one minute of video from the seven to eight hours Marc was handcuffed to a chair in the interrogation room."

During the court proceeding, Roxanne Dubé was called to the witness stand, where she was grilled about her own responsibility for the actions of her sons.

Judge Teresa Pooler asserted that Dubé should have known more about the whereabouts of her children.

The judge further contended that because of diplomatic immunity, Dubé and her son were "flight risks." Dubé denied she had any such intention.

"You know, this notion that I might flee… why would I want to do that?" Dubé said. Marc "would [have] the criminal record forever. So would I. My diplomatic career would be over and for what, when I know the evidence we have before us will prove his innocence? That's my view."

Support for Marc

Several friends of both boys shared their stories and photos with the fifth estate and Radio-Canada's Enquete.

Fred Fabi, a longtime friend of Jean and Marc, says Marc does not deserve to be in jail.

"Look at it from a human point of view, and you'd be lying to yourself if you said that Marc deserves to be in jail," Fabi says. "The thing that shocks me the most is that he's being tried as an adult. That's absolutely ridiculous. He's not an adult. He's 15 years old."

Friends of Marc held a gathering in support of him in Ottawa on Nov. 14. Many of his classmates spoke at the gathering, including classmate Yasmine Hamdani.

"Marc was loved by all his friends and we miss him terribly," she said. "Please give us the opportunity to be part of his life again and release him to his community while he is awaiting a just and fair trial."

A description of the event from Facebook says, "He saw his big brother die, and on that same day, he was arrested and interrogated, then charged and transferred to an adult prison where he is currently awaiting trial. His name is Marc Wabafiyebazu and he is only 15 years old... We are Marc's Ottawa friends, schoolmates, and acquaintances and we believe it is time to act in the face of this tragedy."

A former classmate named Youma Konate says she remembers Marc's devotion to his big brother.

"They were really close," Konate said. "He admired him. He looked up to him. Like I remember at school he would always talk about his brother, how much he loved him and everything that, that his brother was the person he loved most. I remember that."